Our Cat Might Need Therapy
Thursday, June 26, 2008 We lost Oskar.
I do not mean lost, as in "died", although I had all the worst case scenarios running through my head while we searched for him last night. I grew nauseous over thoughts of him with his head stuck up a pipe in the basement of our apartment building or eviscerated by the lunatic dogs that are kept in a front yard across the street.
Oskar, practicing at being negative space, on a windowsill.
I mean that we lost him, as in "we could not find him anywhere in the apartment". The Palinode and I searched our closets and cupboards, the building's basement, the courtyard, and the area around the building several times. Each time, we would come back to the apartment and hear a distant scratching, which would start the hunt all over again.
The scratching was most audible in the bathroom, so I eventually got down on my hands and knees and called his name a few times. Scratch, scratch. It almost sounded like he was inside the bathtub. I called his name again. Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch. This time it was more frantic and right next to my head. He was definitely inside the bathtub, and not in it like when you have a bath, but really INSIDE it.
We pulled the board away from the one end of the tub to reveal the pipes, and there Oskar was, reeking of shit with pupils that filled his entire eye sockets. This was one fucked up cat.
As soon as we lured him out from the wall with food, he ran to the kitchen, into a cupboard, and disappeared. The freak had found a hole in the back of the kitchen cupboard that led under the bathroom floor, and the stench of cat poop wafted out around our cooking pots.
Oskar is a bit of a special case. When we brought him home from the humane society in the fall of 2005, it was apparent that he had been underfed and mistreated by his previous owners. He would do anything to eat and drink, including attacking hot salsa and cups of coffee. I had to stay with him for two days when he almost died from a respiratory infection. He spent a good part of his days then racing with anxiety and crying without seeming provocation.
Since then, he has learned that we will not try to kill him or starve him, but he has occasional setbacks. In all seriousness, I think he has a cat version of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. If he finds himself in a scary situation for too long, such as getting lost in the basement of our building, he turns almost feral. It takes him hours if not days to figure out that he doesn't have to creep around with his belly on the floor trying to scout out where the scary torturer is hiding. It is really very sad.
We figured that he had spent a day, and possibly days, skulking around under the bathroom floor, and it was obvious that his poor little brain couldn't do the math anymore. His fur was gritty from his tiny crawl space, and he smelled like he had been living in a litter box for two days, which I think is pretty much what he was doing under there.
We have now blocked up the hole under the kitchen cupboards and the one leading to the pipes underneath the bathtub, so we are hoping that he will soon regain his former stoic, if a little neurotic, composure. He is a lovely cat when he is well, but his fear of his former owner is so great that it sometimes gets the better of him.
On the bright side, he appeared to be almost normal this morning. I found him sitting on top of a bookshelf blinking slow cat eyes at me, which he does when he is happy.
Does anyone know the number of a good cat therapist, though? Because I don't know if the Palinode and I can handle having a roommate who goes wild and hides in the walls like a rabid bat.
I'm kidding. We'll keep him as long as he's breathing. I don't think anyone else would understand his, um, how shall I put this? His quirks.
Reader Comments (26)
Oooh! Poor Oscar! Poor little cat.
My first cat had had some similar traumas, except not owner-induced. More like his previous owner had suffered a hate-crime, and the poor cat was there for all the ambulances and the subsequent weeks that his owner was in the hospital. He was always scared and skittish until one ex started chasing him around the apartment... and after that, he figured out that MOST people were pretty cool.
I hope that Oscar soon remembers what it's like to live with people who loves him and comes back to his more relaxed self. I have to go pet my kitten boys, now.
Poor li'l dude. Did you have to give him a bath? Once my cat jumped up the chimney flu and had to have a bath. Good times.
I'm so sorry for Oscar! I think people who do damage like that to a cat should be shot and then left to fend for themselves under a bathtub that smells like a litterbox.
Poor scared Oskar. I'm pretty sure I'd freak out if I was trapped inside the walls. Or if my cat was.
The poor little guy. I'm sorry he (and you) went through that, but I think he's fortunate to have you and Palinode to love on him.
Don't you love the slow-blink, happy-cat thing? It always make my heart warm when my Finn does it.
Poor Oskar! I hope he recovers from his self-inflicted ordeal quickly.
I wish there were a cat whisperer. I have an 8-year-old I got from a shelter a few years ago, and while she's extremely social and loves everyone (save for my dad), she does have a few odd behaviors that make me wonder what her previous life was like.
I'm with Leaf...
Have I told yo that I adore black cats? Well I do.
He is a beauty- who isn't neurotic? People think because they are animals their quirks shouldn't be funny and tolerated? I love quirks. Have I said I love cats, especially black ones?
Seriously- I always cat proof my living spaces due to having similar experiences. They will get into any hole that is bigger than 2" in diameter and then be so pitiful if stuck. Please give him an eyeblink for me!
People who abuse animals should be shot and pissed on.
Oskar is lucky to have two such understanding humans as equally as he did not deserve to be treated in such a way as to have these quirks in the first place.
To make light of a cat-fixin' situation, I will let you watch a great skit about fixin' cats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2Je1CEPkUM
My cat is the exact same way. He had been rescued and is now wary of new people. He seems to think that someone is going to hurt him so he goes on the offensive. When I first moved in with my roommate he bit a chunk out of my leg. It took three months for him to get used to me and now he's nice to me. Kneads my stomach, leans on me, cuddles but whenever someone new comes to the house he freaks the hell out. It's a neverending cycle with him.
Oh the poor thing. Must have been scary stuck inside of a bathtub. :(
You guys are great. I think people who mistreat animals are so horrible and it makes me feel better that there are people around who will love the little guys after the fact.
Glad to hear that Oskar's safe. My Oscar cat used to hide somewhere in the apartment, too. I'd practically tear the place apart looking for her, only to have her stroll out near the end of the day looking all nonchalant.
If any of you are serious about finding a "cat whisperer" (or any other critter), there's a woman in Washington state who comes highly recommended by several of my friends. Her name is Joy Turner; she is a writer and hosts a radio show. Here's a link to her About page:
http://www.talkwithyouranimals.com/site/371355/page/45030
so glad you found him. That is a crazy story.
Oh, poor baby! I'm glad it ended well, though he suffered for it. I'll round up my three cats and ask them to send their very best kitty vibes that he relaxes and never gets stuck again. Vibes from their brethren are the best kind.
A tender, touching and strange post. This *is* one fucked up cat.
Some have diagnosed me with PTSD because of my childhood abuse. I used to hide in closets sometimes, like in that movie "Closetland," which is ironic since that's where I used to hide so I wouldn't be abused. Oh wait, that's not ironic at all. And that's exactly what Oskar is doing.
You should introduce me to him. We'd get on well.
Also, took me several years of being with LoveShack to learn I didn't have to hide in closets anymore. But I still want to sometimes. We all have setbacks, those of us who are fucked up anyway.
Hiya! I stumbled across your wonderful blog via adoptic.
Your poor little kitty cat. My cat, Nancy (named after either Nancy Sinatra or Nancy Wilson, depending on my mood) is the same way. I rescued her, nothing but a wet sack of skin and bones, from the corner of the post office one December.
She is a wonderful kitty if it is just the two of us, but anything odd (new people, noises, etc) and she hides. Sometimes I don't see her for days. This used to scare the crap out of me, but I'm pretty vigilant as to who and what goes through the door - I also have a year old puppy. Eventually I got used to it. Don't worry, Nancy will eventually appear again.
Poor Oskar! I cannot imagine what he's been through. I believe even an unabused cat would go nuts for a while after being stuck under the floor. He's lucky to have patient people.
Thanks for stopping by my blog today. You have a gorgeous blog here. I'm looking forward to poking around a bit.
My heart goes out to Oskar!! My Izabel is very much the same. She flips like a light switch - one moment sweet and lovey and the next hell-cat. Glad you found him and he is okay, but what a scare. And I wish I knew a good cat behaviorist. I would sign Izabel up in a moment.
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